The Cosmic Guardians
by meercatangel
Summary: Stella is kidnapped by Baltor during her Princess Ball, and taken to the UnderRealm. Will the Winx Club find all of the Cosmic Guardians to save her?
1. Chapter 1

Baltor smiled. Princess Stella's Princess Ball was the perfect opportunity to take revenge on the kingdom. He would show King Radius just how big his mistake had been to sentence him to an eternal ice prison. He narrowed his eyes as the trumpets sounded…the ball was about to begin…

Stella was nervous, but excited. She was sure that her parents would be getting back together, and she may not have got the perfect dress, but it was near enough. Then the trumpets sounded, and it was time…

Bloom, Brandon, Musa, Tecna, Sky and Flora were all waiting patiently for the ball to begin.

"Do you think Stella will like her gift?" Brandon asked nervously.

"What is it?" Bloom asked.

"A necklace." Brandon replied.

"Yo Brandon, chillax!" Musa winked. "She'll love it!"

"Yeah, man, don't worry!" Sky grinned.

"People, I don't mean to change the subject," Tecna interrupted as the trumpets sounded, "but Stella's coming!"

Baltor was smiling as the curtains came up, and King Radius walked through.

"My dear citizens, I present to you, my beautiful daughter, Princess Stella!"

The guests clapped and cheered as Stella emerged from behind the curtain, wearing a long pink gown. Baltor could not see her face, but he knew it was her, from the glittering gold tiara of Soleria.

Brandon's jaw dropped as he saw his girlfriend appear. She looked beautiful, and he knew that he was in love with her more than ever. He smiled, and blew a kiss.

Bloom and the others waved, cheering and whistling. Stella blushed.

"Ah, they're all so happy. Fools!" Baltor grinned. It was time. He rose into the air and cleared his throat.

"My dear King Radius!" he began.

King Radius turned to face the speaker, and his face quickly drained.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" Stella asked.

"Stella, go, hide!" he whispered urgently.

"Daddy I-"

"NOW!" he hissed. Stella looked stricken, then nodded and crept behind a huge plant pot, holding a sunflower.

Baltor descended slightly, still levitating. "Radius, it is I, Baltor. You may not recognise me, but I am the one you sent into exile! Doing that, you destroyed my magic, the thing closest to my heart. So I shall destroy the one thing closest to yours!"

King Radius froze for a second before shouting, "STELLA! RUN!"

Stella darted out from behind the plant pot and ran across the dance floor.

Baltor smirked. "Big mistake, Radius!" He raised his palms and shot a blast of magic at Stella. She fell to the floor.

"Stella!" Brandon cried.

Baltor saw he was about to run to her, so he put a magical force field around her.

"Now, Radius, watch as I destroy your precious daughter!" he said whilst descending into the force field, next to Stella, who was getting up.

Baltor raised his hand, and cupped Stella's chin, grinning at Radius. "And, now…."

He glanced at the terrified Stella. And froze. She was…beautiful. He thought for a moment, and then brought down his hand. Stella fell limp in his arms. The crowd screamed. "Silence!" Baltor roared. Then he turned to the King.

"Don't worry Radius, she's not dead. She's just…sleeping. In the end, I had a change of heart."

"Why?" King Radius asked suspiciously.

Baltor grinned. "Because, my dear Radius, I have decided to make her mine."

"No!" Radius and Brandon cried out at the same time.

"Silence!" Baltor narrowed his eyes. "She shall travel with me to the UnderRealm. If anyone dares follow, she will perish. She is mine now, Radius."

With a sweep of his cloak, he was gone, as a sudden darkness enveloped the hall….when the light returned, they were gone.

**R&R!**


	2. Chapter 2

Brandon lunged forwards as Baltor disappeared with a limp Stella in his arms. He crashed to the ground.

"NO!" he roared, pounding his arms on the ground. "She's gone!"

Flora stepped forwards to comfort him. "It's OK Brandon, we'll get her back."

Bloom collapsed into Sky's arms, sobbing. Stella was her best friend. "Sky, I should have transformed! I should have _done_ something!" she wept.

Sky stroked her hair. "It's not your fault, Bloom, I know that if you could have done something, you would have. But everyone was in shock, it happened so fast."

Musa stood awkwardly by the door. "Guys!" she called. "We should find Faragonda, she'll know what to do."

"Are you coming, sweetie?" Flora asked Brandon in her soft voice.

Brandon scowled. "Why can't we just go straight to the UnderRealm? Don't you guys understand? Stella's in danger!"

"Dude, you know we can't just go down there, you;re not thinking straight. If you want to save Stella, we're going to have to come up with something better than just charging in there!" Sky said angrily.

"Yo, so are you coming or what?" Musa asked.

Brandon got up. "Yeah." he said gruffly.

"Come on you guys, we'd better get to Alfea." Flora motioned to the others.

"I'll call Timmy and Helia and tell them what happened." Tecna said, pulling out her cell phone. Brandon nodded. Flora reached out to touch his shoulder, sensing he was upset, but he shrugged her off and strode ahead. He could hear the blood pounding in his ears, but he was only listening to his own thoughts. Or at least one of them- _why had he taken her?_

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Baltor gently bent his knees and landed with a cloud of dust on the cave floor. His cape swirled around his legs as he seemed to glide through the shadows.

"Baltor." he heard a female's voice say. "You're back."

He smiled. "Hello, Icy."

Icy stepped out of the darkness at the end of the tunnel. Her cold eyes narrowed as she saw what, or who, he was carrying. Her mouth twitched.

Then she called, "Girls! Baltor's back! And he's brought us a present!"

Almost instantly, her fellow witches Stormy and Darcy appeared next to her. Darcy raised an eyebrow when she spotted Stella, but Stormy grinned. "Ooh, Baltor, you shouldn't have. You got us a fairy to destroy!" She raised her palms, ready to shoot a bolt of lightning at the unconscious Stella.

Baltor raised a hand, and Stormy lowered hers, looking confused.

"Huh? What's going on, Baltor?" she asked, hands on her hips.

"Nothing, my dear, it's just that in a very effective plot to have my revenge upon King Radius, I've decided to make his daughter, this very beautiful young pixie here, my 'personal acquaintance'." he replied.

"What? Are you kidding me?!" Icy was shocked.

Baltor smirked. "Is that a hint of jealousy I detect, my darling Icy?"

Icy blushed. "No. It's just that, Baltor, a fairy?"

Baltor grinned. "Don't worry, when I've finished with her, she'll be almost as evil as you."

Icy laughed. "I doubt it Baltor, I have a heart of ice!"

"Yeah Baltor, there's no way you can make that goody-goody pixie girl one of us." Darcy added.

Baltor laughed. "Watch me."

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Brandon sat alone in a corner on the jet. He was still in shock. He could picture the scene in his mind, in slow motion. He could see Stella emerging from the curtains, looking radiant in that pink dress, then ducking behind a plant as Baltor had appeared, then being hit by a blast of magic, then finally being carried away by Baltor to the UnderRealm. He turned his head away so the other's couldn't see him crying._ It's my fault,_ he thought_, why didn't I DO something? I could have saved her!_ He looked out of the window, watching the clouds go by, wishing with every fibre of his being that Stella was right there beside him, instead of being held in the UnderRealm.

"Stella," he whispered, "Please be OK."

**Will Stella be OK? R&R!**


	3. Chapter 3

Stella stirred. Her head hurt. "Oooh." she groaned, cradling her head in her hands.

All she could remember was here Princess Ball, and being hit by a burst of magic. Then she realised something. "Where am I?" she asked no-one in particular. All she could see was darkness, and she could hear a faint dripping, like a leak.

"Ugh, this place needs a _major_ makeover!" she said, wrinkling up her nose.

It was so dark, she could barely see her hand in front of her face, and Stella didn't do well underground.

"Solarian Light!" she cried, holding her palms out in front of her. Her delicate fingers began to glow, and she squinted, trying to make out where she was. She could see bars in front of her. Touching them, and feeling the cold, rusty metal under beneath her fingers, her heart sank as she realised where she was. The Land of Shadows. Home to the darkest wizard in all the Realms. Baltor.

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As the jet landed just outside Alfea, Miss Faragonda came hurrying out. They shouldn't have been back for a few days, something must be wrong. She saw the look of utter misery and failure on Brandon's face, and the tears that were still falling from Bloom's red eyes. "What's happened?" she asked, with an extremely worried look on her face. Tecna stepped forwards. "I'm afraid we have some rather bad news." she said, her voice shaking. "Stella, she, well, she, she was taken. By a dark wizard by the name of Baltor."

"What?" Miss Faragonda was shocked.

"Yeah, he took her to the UnderRealm as a punishment to King Radius. He said that he was taking revenge for exile or something." Musa said.

"This is very grave." Miss Faragonda said. "Very grave indeed."

She turned to Brandon. "I know you must be upset Brandon, but you have to listen to me. Don't do _anything_ that I don't tell you to do, OK?"

Brandon looked shocked. "Yeah, whatever." he shrugged.

Miss Faragonda nodded quickly, and turned to Bloom. "Bloom, I know that you too must be hurt by this, but you mustn't make any rash decisions, do you understand me?"

Bloom bowed her head. "Yes Miss Faragonda."

"Good." she said. "Now I must go and contact Miss Griffin."

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Stella had been sitting on the cold floor for what seemed like hours before she heard the footsteps. She stood up, bracing herself for an attack. She heard a laugh. "Calm down, little fairy. It's only me."

Stella was terrified. "Baltor." she whispered.

Baltor stood outside the bars. "Yes, my sweet, it is I. Come, we have things to attend to. Mainly, us."

"Us?" Stella asked, bewildered.

"Indeed." Baltor agreed.

He waved his hand and the bars lifted. Stella stepped cautiously out into the cave, and watched as Baltor started to walked away. "Come along." he called over his shoulder. "And don't try to escape, I have the witches _very_ well trained."

Stella shuddered, and hurried along behind him.

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Brandon, Bloom, Sky, Layla, Musa, Riven, Timmy, Tecna, Helia and Flora waited in Miss Faragonda's office for the headmistress to return.

"Do you think she's OK?" Brandon asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

"I'm sure she is, honey." Flora replied.

"You don't know that." Riven sneered.

"Hey, she was only trying to be positive, Riven!" Bloom snapped .

"Yeah, cut it out, Riven." Helia added.

"Oh, come on, I'm only trying to be realistic." Riven rolled his eyes.

"Riven, stop being such a jerk, would you?" Sky said angrily.

"You gonna make me?" Riven smirked.

"Stop it you guys, chillax!" Musa cut in.

"Yes, this fight is clearly illogical!" Tecna agreed.

"Oh shut up, you nerd!" Riven laughed.

Tecna blushed, and looked away.

"Don't talk to her like that!" Musa and Timmy said in unison, glaring at Riven.

"Hey, Musa, you're supposed to be on my side!" Riven glowered.

Layla rose from her seat. "Just because she's dating you, doesn't mean that she can't stand up to you, Riven." she said quietly.

"Standing up to me? She's just following her pixie friends!" Riven cried.

"I am not!" Musa said furiously.

Soon they were all arguing, shouting and yelling, until Brandon stood up.

"WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP?" he roared. "We are trying to help Stella, and this is NOT helping!"

"Brandon's right." Bloom said sadly.

"Indeed he is." a voice said.

Everyone turned to see Miss Faragonda standing in the doorway. She looked weary and a little defeated. They all sat, waiting eagerly for her news.

"So? What did Griffin say? Do we go, or what?" Musa asked nervously.

Miss Faragonda sighed. "It seems we have a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Brandon asked at once.

"Well, to fight Baltor, we need the help of the Cosmic Guardians." she replied.

"The what?" Bloom asked, confused.

"Not what, who." said Miss Faragonda. "They are the eight keepers of the Cosmic Power. They are descendants of the greatest fairies ever known. There are eight keepers, and one Cosmic Princess, who is their leader. They alone hold the key to freeing Stella."

"So what's the problem?" Bloom asked.

"Yeah, if we know how to save her, why is there a problem?" Brandon asked, concern clear in his voice.

Miss Faragonda sighed again. "Well, that's where it gets a little complicated."

"Complicated? How?" Flora asked.

"Well, you see, the seven of the Cosmic Guardians are going to be hard to find." Miss Faragonda answered her.

"Seven? I thought you said there were eight?" Riven frowned.

"Yes. But we have discovered that the leader, the Cosmic Princess, is the keeper of the Cosmic Power of the Sun. Meaning Soleria in fairy terms…meaning-"

"Stella is the leader of the Cosmic Guardians?" Layla asked, amazed.

"Yes." Miss Faragonda nodded. "And Baltor is probably referring to the same kind of spell that Lord Darkar used on Bloom, which will turn her heart to darkness. We must track down the Guardians, and fast."

"But how?" Bloom asked.

Miss Faragonda smiled. "Well, what are all the planets? Minus Earth and Uranus, and the Sun, seeing as we know that that's Stella's Cosmic Realm, we have eight left in your Solar System."

"Right! That leaves Venus, Mercury, Neptune, the Moon, Jupiter, Pluto, Mars and Saturn. But I don't think any of us know which planet is which Realm, and who has ancestors from any of them."

"I know!" Tecna suddenly gasped excitedly. "I can cross reference the Earth names with the fairy terms on my computer, and we can find the heir to each planet's throne, and that way we'll get every one of the Cosmic Guardians, won't we?" she asked Miss Faragonda, who smiled.

"I do believe you've cracked it!" she smiled at Tecna, who was already hunting for her handheld computer.

"Wait, so, every planet that's in my Solar System was actually a Realm?" Bloom asked.

"Miss Faragonda nodded.

"So, each Realm has an heir, who possesses a Cosmic Power?" Bloom was trying to make sense of it all.

"Yes." Flora answered her this time. "And we have seven to find!"

Miss Faragonda gave a wan smile. "We will also need as many boys from Red Fountain that you can spare." she said, talking to Sky, who nodded.

"We'll all go." Brandon said.

"Yeah, and my brother's transferring here this week, so he can help us." Riven added.

"Good. But remember, not every solitary pupil from Red Fountain can be sacrificed. It shall be only you, Brandon, Timmy, Sky and Helia. And of course, your brother, if he wishes to help." Miss Faragonda warned.

"OK." Riven nodded.

Layla waited until the boys left, and everyone except her and Tecna were asleep. She was standing on the balcony, and Tecna was still furiously trying to locate the first of the guardians. Layla looked up at the stars, unaware that the first guardian was closer than they thought…

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Stella followed Baltor through the tunnels, nervously looking at the bats hanging from the cracks in the rocks. "Um, Baltor, I don't mean to sound oblivious, but why am I here?" she asked.

"Because my dear, I have decided to punish your father for sending me into exile. Ideally, I was going to destroy you, but-" he spun around suddenly, cupping Stella's face with one hand. "…I could not let such a beautiful face go to waste."

Stella was shocked. Baltor was handsome, in a pale, vampire, majorly evil kind of way, but she was already in love, and a fairy could never get involved with a wizard who had been sentenced to an eternal rest in the Omega Dimension. Ever.

"Listen, Baltor, I'm with someone." Stella said.

Baltor didn't bat an eyelid. "So? Where is he now? No-one who comes here will survive, I promise you. He is history."

"Well, I hate to break this to you, but I will be too if I stay here." Stella argued."I'm from Soleria, meaning that I kind of need sunlight to live, and the UnderRealm doesn't really have much of that, wouldn't you agree?"

Baltor smiled, showing white fangs that made Stella feel uncomfortable. "Yes," he said. "That _is_ a problem. I suppose we shall have to make a few….alterations."

"Alterations? Listen pal, I'm not a dress! You can't just alter me!" Stella cried.

"Silence!" Baltor ordered. He raised his hand slightly, tilting Stella's head up.

Stella trembled as he looked into her eyes. "Don't worry, my darling, it won't be long now."

"Until what?" Stella was afraid to ask, but even more afraid of not knowing.

Baltor turned his head and called for his pet, a short but slender snake with bat-like wings and fangs. The snake slithered across the floor instantly, and flew to his ear on leathery wings, before hissing something Stella didn't understand.

_The moon is full, Master. It is time._

Baltor nodded. It was time. He turned to Stella, and smiled. "It is time, my dear."

Stella let out a scream as Baltor sank his fangs into her neck, and the snake slithered away across the dark rocks of the tunnels.

**Will Stella survive? Will the others find the Cosmic Guardians? R&R!**


	4. Chapter 4

Baltor did not lick his lips as he gently released Stella's neck. He had not drawn blood after all, he had just injected a Twilight Darkness spell into her, which would flow through her, replacing her Winx with Twilight. As he released her, she fell limp, which was only to be expected after such a powerful spell. Baltor had waited until midnight because he knew that would make it stronger. He scooped up Stella, and carried her to the largest of the caves in the Shadow Labyrinth. He chanted a spell, and two great stone walls tore apart, revealing the Shadow Palace gates. High and silver, majestic. Baltor liked the sound of that. He held Stella still as he opened the gates with a spell, and entered the Palace. Walking through the grand rooms, he eventually entered the throne room. He looked down at Stella, who was still unconscious. Placing her carefully on a throne, he gently brushed away her blonde fringe, and touched her forehead with his index finger. Almost at once, the Twilight reacted. Stella's hair began to turn a darker blonde, and her pink dress that she had been wearing at her Princess Ball turned to a black ballet type dress, with a short tutu and red and black striped, knee high socks which ran down into black boots. Her butterfly-esque wings had transformed to bat-like wings. Her eyes fluttered open, and Baltor was delighted to see that they had transformed to a pair of green cat-like eyes. Finally, a silver tiara, fashioned out of a twisted silver snake, formed elegantly in her hair. "My beautiful Stella." he murmured, running fingers through her hair, kissing her neck.

"A_hem_." Baltor was interrupted suddenly by Darcy, who was levitating behind him, her eyes narrowed, and her hands planted firmly on her hips.

"So sorry to interrupt you," she said, her voice practically dripping with sarcasm, "but we have a little favour to ask you."

"A favour?" Baltor asked.

"Yeah, a favour. You see, if we have to put up with that little pixie, we want to have our Gloomixes back, you got it? You owe us that much. Icy _hates_ Stella, and you've just paraded her around in front of her. Even if she is the 'new and improved' version, we still don't want her around." Darcy finished.

Baltor merely smirked. "Oh, so you think her powers have not been enhanced as well as her appearance? My dear Darcy, I am not so much of a fool as Darkar was. Stella, my darling, show her!"

As he spoke his order, Stella rose gently into the air, her new wings flapping rapidly. "Shadowball!" she screeched, making a bowling motion with her hands.

Darcy's eyes widened as the swirling ball hit her squarely in the chest, sending her flying back into the stone wall. Rubbing her head, she glared at Stella.

"Hypnosis!" she announced, sending rippling purples waves towards Stella, who sneered and held up her hands, making the ripples reflect back to Darcy. Darcy held her hands over her ears as her Hypnosis spell roared through her mind, a sound like static overpowering her, so she dropped to the ground.

"Make it stop!" she pleaded with an amused looking Baltor, who obliged.

Darcy sank to her hands and knees, breathing roughly.

"You see Darcy, she is mine." Baltor laughed, as Darcy turned, sulking, out of the room.

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The next morning, Tecna came running into the room. "I've discovered the second Guardian!" she panted.

"Really? Who is it?" Flora asked.

"Bloom!" Tecna answered.

"Bloom?!" Layla said in awe, as all eyes turned to the blushing redhead.

"Me?" she asked. "Are you sure?"

Tecna nodded. "Yes. Sparx was ruled by Miriam and Oritel, your parents, and Oritel was originally from Mars, which is actually Sparx in fairy terms."

"Woah. So Mars is really Sparx in the Magia dimension?" Bloom was confused.

"Exactly." Tecna said. "And the next planet I have to analyse is Jupiter."

Suddenly, Musa came bounding into the room, her long black pigtails flowing behind her. She was dressed in a one-sleeved white shirt with a musical note on the front, a short denim skirt, purple legwarmers and white ballet shoes. "Do I look OK?" she asked urgently.

"Yeah, you look great Musa, but why? What's the occasion?" Bloom asked.

"Riven's brother's coming today, and I really want to make a good impression. Quick, everyone get dressed and meet me downstairs in the lobby!" she cried, before racing out of the room.

"That was weird." Layla laughed, pulling on a red and brown patchwork dress. "Come on, we'd better get going."

All the girls, plus the group of boys from Red Fountain were waiting in the lobby, talking and laughing as Riven arrived with his brother, a tall, brunette boy, with green eyes. "Hey guys. This is Avery." Riven announced.

"Hey." Avery grinned.

"OK, Avery, this is Layla, Timmy and Tecna, Flora and Helia, Bloom and Sky, Musa, my girlfriend, and Brandon." Riven introduced everyone.

"Dude, what about you? Where's _your _girlfriend?" Avery laughed at Brandon, as everyone drew a nervous breath.

Riven turned to his older brother. "Well, Avery, we kind of need your help. There's this girl, Stella, who's Brandon's girlfriend, and she's been taken to the UnderRealm. So we need you to help us save her." he blurted out in one breath.

Avery look amazed, and then laughed. "Whatever floats your boat, little bro. I'll help."

Everybody cheered. It looked like they were on their way!

**But are they really on their way? Who is the next Cosmic Guardian? R&R!**


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